Doulas of Chicago Blog

It was time to be done. It was a good run while it lasted, but it was time. Time to retire the nursing bras.

It was embarassing, really, the number of hours it had been worn. The number of times it had been snapped open and closed was a slow metronome for daily life. But the snaps and clicking are done now. The fabric is tired - an accurate representation of the time I spent not sleeping myself.

These fabric bits were an extension of me. The straps knew where to settle. I had been able to un-clasp and re-clasp the front boob flaps for sometime now. So much that even when wearing clothes that isn't designed for chest-feeding-people I could get a boob in a crying baby's mouth remarkably fast.

My bras have absorbed so much milk, spit, and tears. They have witnessed milestones in my breastfeeding journey: Learning the ropes, latching with ease, and finally mastering the night feeds where I didn't need lights to see the path to putting my baby to breast, settling him down, and getting him back to sleep.

This wireless, kinda flimsy, tired workhorse of an undergarment is ready to go to the Intimates Store in the Sky.

Fairwell friend. You did well.

I'm ready for an underwire again.

Oh, but funny enough, I don't think my boobs were ready. I thought it was time, but my boobs...they are altered. Lol...

So finding a bra that fits well - a very frustrating process for many bra-wearing people - is a new kind of frustrating.

I put on my non-lactating-friendly bra and was so excited. I didn't care that one cup was now too loose by a smidge. I didn't care that the I needed to re-remember how to put the stupid thing on, because...

It was so pretty! The nursing bras that ended up being a part of my regular life for 8 months were beige, or black with not much going on. The bra was there to do a job (and it did very well!) not to look fashionable while doing it.

Seeing some color on my décolletage felt like an awakening. A visual breath. A boost of energy. A lacy hug.

I bought my new armor and wore it out of the store, not wanting to put my dingy dishrag back on. And then I started to do my life.

And some of the shiny wore off. Some feelings popped up. Some sadness about what I just ended.

The realization that I was really done using my body in a way that was fought for, well earned, and natural.

Some other feelings popped up too. Not good ones. Like the poking feelings from the stupid underwires. And sweaty feelings because this new bra didn't "breathe" as well. Before my boobs were wet because of milk. Now they were wet because of confinement and suffocation.

A know a well-fitting bra shouldn't hurt. But that is all noise to me in this moment. It felt like my new pretty bra that I was so excited about only few days prior was re-introducing me into the world of sexism and objectivity - which sounds extreme, but ug...it felt extreme.

It was pretty. But I loved taking it off for the day.

My nursing bras weren't pretty, but they had started to feel like a worn in pair of jeans: soft, reliable, like a good friend.

My new bra was like meeting Susan from HR. She was trying to be nice and helpful, but really she just wanted me to say in line. ​All this was months ago.

Susan is still in rotation, but only for short periods of time. I love knowing she's there. I love looking at her. And I love not wearing my worn-down nursing bra...I really am done with that part of my life.

What I've found works well while wrangling two kids at various levels of mobility (and spontaneous dance-party-ness) is life requires a certain amount of flexibility - literally and mentally. My energy at the beginning of the day is drastically different than the middle and the end, and the amount of time I want to devote to getting ready is minimal. (duh.)

And I also now know why Athleasure is a huge thing. Because ain't nobody got time for that!

It isn't for everyone, but I am so thankful that yoga wear, sporting attire, and my mothering timeline have aligned in this moment of supportive garment history.

Susan, you're pretty, but I'm gonna be Sporty Spice over here for a bit.